Long story here. it just happened.

i have asthma and it's been acting up. when it got severe i visited the e.r. (a couple weeks ago) and was given an oral steroid, via eyedropper squirted into my cheek. i am allergic to prednisone but this related but different steroid was fine -- i didn't react and it helped my asthma for about 24 hours -- so when i visited my doctor two days ago, still suffering, she prescribed the same medicine for me. the dosage is 10 ml per day. the med came in two bottles, each with one eyedropper, but i wasn't sure it was the same med i had before so i brought one of the two boxes with me to the adult daycare i attend with my guy (who won't go without me, and needs to go) so i could be with people in case i did have a reaction.

when i opened the box i found everything wrapped in plastic, so i carefully opened the eyedropper, asked a staff member to open the bottle since it was child-proof and apparently also human-proof -- and immediately found two problems.

one problem was that i am supposed to take 10 ml per day, as i say, and the eyedropper measured one ml max. was i supposed to take 10 eyedroppers full?

the other problem was that the first problem was moot since the eyedropper would not draw up any liquid. i had, it seems, a broken eyedropper.

this morning i called the pharmacy and asked about the dosage and about the broken eyedropper. i was told i'd be mailed a new dropper. okay, i can wait for the other answer since i don't have a way to use it until the mail comes in a couple/few days. then i realized, after hanging up, that i had that second box and it might also have an eyedropper in it! i'd totally forgotten about the second box! sure enough, it had a dropper. i started to unscrew the dropper/lid from the first bottle... and found it had liquid in it! suddenly it wasn't broken anymore. don't ask. i have no idea. somehow it was okay. i really tried HARD to make it work yesterday. i really did. it didn't work. now it does. magic, right? so i called the pharmacy back.

i got a technician who was quite friendly but maybe not the brightest candle in the menorah.

i explained briefly: i called a few minutes ago, asking for a new eyedropper because mine was broken. it's not broken anymore. so don't mail me one thanks. but now i have a question. the dosage is 10 ml. the dropper holds one ml. should i really take 10 eyedroppers full of medicine every day? can we confirm this?

she said she'd get the pharmacist but she came back herself instead and said she needed more information. her first question was, so, did she understand correctly that i had received no eyedroppers?

no, i had eyedroppers. they hold one ml. i am supposed to take 10. am i right, take 10 eyedroppers full of med? can i confirm this?

well, it's not an eyedropper, it's a syringe.

no, it's an eyedropper.

no...

... yes, i promise, it's an eyedropper. do i take 10 of them? that seems like a lot. i don't want to overdose. i just want to confirm the dosage and the method of taking it.

well, you could just take 10 ml and forget the eyedropper.

no, the eyedropper is how i get the liquid out of the bottle and how i measure it. i just want to confirm the dosage. can i confirm the dosage?

well that's what you had in the hospital, right?

if you say so. i didn't dose myself. a nurse measured it.

but that's what you had in the hospital, right?

if you say so.... i didn't measure it....

oh okay. well, i'd better have the pharmacist call you. no, wait, i'll have the doctor call you. what's the best number?

(i give her my number.)

oh that's not in our system.

it's been in your system for at least a decade. please repeat the number back to me.

(she says my phone number correctly.)

yes that is my number and it is in your system.

okay. i'll have the doctor call you.

is it supposed to be that hard? i just wanted to verify the dosage before, you know, accidentally killing myself!

g

p.s. i love my doctor, this is a great clinic and the pharmacy is usually wonderful.